


No God, Holding on Tightly

by AngelWithAStory



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Episode Spoilers, Getting to Know Each Other, Light Angst, M/M, Missing Scene, One-Sided Relationship, Pining, Unrequited Crush, ep 87 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 15:29:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9908744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelWithAStory/pseuds/AngelWithAStory
Summary: "Doty, write this down."A collection of moments on board that ship between Vox Machina and their new charge





	

**Author's Note:**

> *deep breath* Oh boy do I love the smell of light angst in the morning!
> 
> also, Tary is Not Straight™, my dudes. ~~Neither is Keyleth but that's a side note~~
> 
> title from "You're Still a Mystery" by the Bleachers

“Doty, write this down.”

_The woman with fire-red hair stands on the bow of the ship. There’s flowers in the hair that whips back behind her as she spreads her arm out to meet the wind. She’s laughing as the wind plays with her clothes and her hair._

_“Percy!” She calls out, her joy infectious, over her shoulder. “Percy come here!”_

_The white haired man looks up from the captain’s maps at her. He has been studying them for a little while now, enjoying the sensations sailing and navigation by the sky. Still, he smiles and walks up to his travelling companion._

_“Yes, Keyleth?” Percival - Percy, as he likes to be called by his friends - says, tucking his hands behind his back and watching her curiously._

_Wordlessly, the woman - Keyleth, he learns from others, not from her - moves Percy  to stand in front of her. She laughs as she spreads his arms out wide and lets the wind billow out his jacket._

_“You’re flying, Percy.” Keyleth says, in a half-reverent voice. It’s playful, and Percy laughs. Keyleth’s arm wrap around Percy’s middle and Percy leans back just a little. It’s comfortable. It’s companionable. The sun is setting behind them._

_The spell is broken and they both dissolve into laughter._

“What are you up to?” The voice behind him caught Taryon off-guard, to say the least. He looked up to see the female twin sat on the broom, hanging in the air roughly eye level. It seemed _awfully_ unnecessary to him, but he was certainly not one to judge.

“Just charting our adventures.” Taryon said, not even bothering to look behind him to check if Doty is still writing.

“About those two on the bow?” The female twin - _Vex_ , according to Percy. Or _dear_ , but only sometimes - said, following his gaze. She was also smiling. “They did that on the Airship as well.” Vex said casually.

“You were on an airship?” Taryon frowned at that. Another reminder of just how much he _didn’t_ know these people he was travelling with. Of how much _better_ they were at adventuring that he was.

“Oh, yes. In Ank’Harel. Also travelling from Emon to Vasselheim.” Vex said, swinging her leg so she was sat sideways on the broom. Taryon caught a glimpse of a tether and a seat on the broom. Most likely a custom modification that _wasn’t_ by her own hand. His gaze snapped back to Percy for a moment, before looking away.

“You’re quite well-travelled, aren’t you?” Taryon said lightly.

“We’ve been a lot of places. Done a lot of good.” Vex seemed distracted somehow as she spoke. She was also watching the two at the front. “It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been worth it.”

“What’s been your _favourite_ adventure you’ve been on so far?” Taryon asked, more to fill the silence than anything.

“Well, I don’t know about _favourite_ but I did quite like the time we saved some local farms by transforming into cows.” The smirk on her face was telling and Taryon leaned forwards ever so slightly, intrigued.

“Doty, make sure you get all of this.” Taryon said, gesturing for Vex to continue. She happily recounted the story.

 

“Doty, write this down.”

_As our travels continue, seemingly endlessly, I find my attention drifting to my travelling companions._

“Only good things, I hope.”

Taryon started and swung to look at the male twin - _Vax_ , confusingly similar to his sister - leaning against the railing and smiling at him. He was gently tossing a dagger into the air and catching it in a well-practiced manoeuvre.

Vax caught the dagger and pointed at him with the tip of the blade.

“Tell me something about yourself, Tary. Just for fun.” Vax said, shrugging casually. He looked very intimidating, with his handsome face and daggers lining his waist. The heavy black armour and cloak didn’t help either. Neither did the silver skull pinning the cloak together.

“What kind of answer are you looking for?” Taryon asked, resting a single gauntlet on the railing.

“A truthful one, hopefully.” Vax said, tucking the dagger into his belt again. “What sort of books do you like?”

“All sorts of books, I suppose. Mostly fiction, mostly adventure novels. I’m not quite sure why _you’re_ interested, though you never struck me as a reader.” Taryon admitted. Vax smiled. It felt slightly dangerous and Taryon didn’t know _why_.

“Oh, I’m not.” Vax admitted it easily, catching him off-guard. “But we’re the same age, and we’re going to be travelling together for at least a little while, and I want to get to know you. Come on, we must have _something_ in common.”

A sharp laugh disrupted the quiet and they both looked up to the crow’s nest. Percy was sat with his notebook resting on the railing, while Vex hovered nearby on the broom. They were laughing at something that had been snatched away by the wind. Percy’s arm was up to shield from the sun. His jacket was off and draped over the railing.  

Taryon looked away and frowned at the look on Vax’s face.

It was sympathetic, and Taryon didn’t like the implication.

“We’ll find something.” Vax leaned over and patted Taryon’s shoulder, leaving just as silently as he arrived.

 

Doty stood beside the door as they worked. It was just one of their rooms that the two of them had taken over and set up tables to work on.

Percy had a lot more experience and things to work on, and Taryon was only happy to assist and provide small insight to the projects. He was fascinated by Percy’s sketches, especially his ‘guns’, as he called them.

The work and expertise that went into them was _incredible_. Percy was practically giddy as he talked Taryon through the small intricacies that his party never seemed to appreciate.

The sketches for their small project were already complete and refined, and Percy left it to Taryon to begin the construction while he built a little bit more ammunition for his guns. Black powder was an interesting substance, Taryon found, and made sure that Doty had noted that for his book.

Taryon looked up and watched Percy for a second. The room always grew a bit too warm and neither wore their armour. Percy’s coat had been long-since abandoned and both their sleeves had been rolled to their elbows.

There was a smudge of black on Percy’s forehead and Taryon frowned.

“Oh, oh, you have a little smudge right there,” Taryon said, leaning in and using a clean edge of a rag to wipe away the smear of black power.

There was a moment when Percy was still and let it happen, looking up at him. Taryon’s hand slowed a fraction.

His glasses were skewed slightly. His hair was in disarray and slightly sweating from the heat of the room. There was silence between them.

Then Percy laughed and Taryon laughed with him, putting the rag down on the table and pretending that his hand wasn’t shaking.

Taryon began to tell a story, just to keep the laughter going.

(Later that night, we would rip those pages out just to destroy the evidence that the moment ever happened.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [queenmoggy](http://queenmoggy.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you want to drop by and talk about how Not Straight Taryon Darrington is 
> 
> also Vax has his gaydar _finely_ tuned
> 
>  
> 
> ~~do it sam, make tary like a boy. do it I dare you~~


End file.
